Dutch Almond Cookies

2 C butter
2 C sugar
4 C flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C almonds, sliced

Cream together butter and sugar. Sift together dry ingredients, then add alternately with sour cream to creamed mixture. Stir in almonds, mixing well. Shape into rolls 2-1/2 to 3" round. Wrap in wax paper and chill overnight. When ready for baking, slice 1/4" thick, place on cookie sheet and bake at 375-400 degrees for about 8-12 minutes or until light brown.

Rocky Road Brownies

1 C melted margarine/butter
1/3 C cocoa
2 C sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 C nuts, chopped (optional)

Mix fist 3 ingredients together. Then add eggs, beating well after each egg. Add remaining ingredients and mix well . Pour into greased 9 x 13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with miniature marshmallows. Put back in oven and bake 5 minutes more. Cool and ice with 1/4 cup meled margarine (butter), 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, 1 tsp vanilla, dash of salt and milk to thin to correct consistency. Keep in refrigerator over night and the flavors will blend better. (This seldom happens around our house. We eat it right away.)

*You can use a brownie mix, but they will be a bit crumbly.

Plumb Bundt Cake

Plumb Bundt Cake

Normandie's recipe

(I think this may have been Naomi Hays' recipe) 

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil or 2 cubes melted butter

2 large jars pureed plumbs (baby food) or  #1 can of applesauce--15oz

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp soda

Beat eggs, add sugar, oil and plumbs/applesauce.  Then add dry ingredients, beat well and add 1 cup chopped nuts.  

Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan.

Bake @ 350 for 1 hour (60 minutes)  

After bake, remove from pan and poke holes in the cake with a fork or toothpick. Frost with brown sugar frosting.

Brown Sugar Frosting

3/4 cup butter melt in pan then add,

1 cup brown sugar

1 TBL of milk.

Boil the above ingredients for 2 minutes.

Add:

 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 

1 tsp vanilla

 Mix well with a wire whip or beaters.  Make frosting while cake is in the oven the last 10 minutes and pour over warm cake.

TIPS:

• I have always used applesauce in the cake.  Lara says she uses baby food prunes. 
• I don't add nuts.

•  I have tried doing the frosting with poking holes in the cake and without, I don't notice a difference.
• I usually cook the first ingredients of the frosting longer than 2 minutes, I cook it until I see it is thickening, then add the powdered sugar.  
• I wait 5-10 minutes after I've made the frosting to allow it to cool a little before pouring it over the bundt cake,  if it's too warm and runny it just runs off the cake into a pool of frosting on the plate.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

2c. chicken broth

3 medium potatoes (red potatoes are good in it too)

1/2 c. chopped celery

1/4 c. sliced carrots

2 tsp. white vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. milk (I didn't have enough milk when I made it so I used a combo of evaporated milk and regular milk, it turned out super yummy)

2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

6 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

1. Bring the first 7 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat

2. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

3. Whisk flour into milk then add into saucepan.  Stir in cheese and bacon.

4. Simmer, uncovered, 5-8 minutes or until thick.

Basic Pizza Dough (Food Nanny)

Makes one 16-inch or two 12-inch pizza crusts.

1 TB active dry yeast
1 C warm water
2 TB olive oil
1 TB honey
1/4 tsp salt
3-4 C all purpose flour

1. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Mix the oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of flour at a time, mixing well after each addition.

If the dough seems too wet, mix in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is soft. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is moderately stiff adn somewhat firm to the touch, about 6 minutes.

3. Lightly grease pizza pans. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface. Gently stretch the dough to fill the pan.

4. Let the dough rise (it will not rise very much) while you make sauce and continue with the pizza recipe of your choice.

5. Bake 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes

Strawberries'n'Cream Trifle

Ingredients:
Small sponge cake, pound cake, or lady fingers
Large box of Jell-O Vanilla pudding
Tub of Cool Whip or 1 quart of whipped cream
Fresh strawberries cut into slices
Whole strawberries for garnish
Red jam of your choice

Make vanilla pudding following the instructions on the box. Put in medium sized mixing bowl. If it's the cook and serve, chill in the fridge. Add half the cool whip/whipped cream to cooled pudding. Break cake up into bite size pieces. Line a trifle dish* with cake bits. Drop a thin layer of jam on top of cake. Drop on a layer of pudding on next. Layer strawberry slices on top of pudding. Repeat layers until dish is full. Finish with a generous layer of whipped cream and garnish with whole strawberries. Serve immediately.

*We made individual servings in iced tea glasses since we do not have a trifle dish.

Cottage Pie 2

From Lara

1 1/2 pounds of mashed potatoes (whipped with milk, cream, sour cream, however you like)
2 TB canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled and sliced small
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 ground beef (or ground lamb for traditional shepherd's pie)
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
2 TB flour
2 TB tomato paste
1 cup chicken or beef broth
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves*
1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves*
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

While potatoes are boiling before mashing, make beef filling.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place canola oil into a 12 inch saute pan and set over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add onion and carrots and saute until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and stir to combine. Add ground beef (or lamb), salt, and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through. Sprinkle meat with flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook another minute. Add tomato paste, broth, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, and thyme and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.

Add the corn and peas to the meat mix and spread evenly into an 11 by 7 inch glass baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up, and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

*I didn't have these herbs fresh, so I just used a dash of the dried herbs.